I’m most proud of how my story turned out. I usually have a hard time starting to write and getting the juices flowing, but this story seemed to flow really easily for me. This is most likely because diversity in young adult literature, and young adult literature in general, is something I am passionate about. I like that everything seemed to fit well together–my interviews, my infographics and the overall story. I also like the books I chose for my slideshow at the end–I think that was a fun touch to a information-laden story.
The biggest challenge I found was designing my infographics. I don’t consider myself a very design-minded person, so they were challenging to create. I had to rely on the templates that Canva and Visme provide, which were helpful, but not as creative as I would have liked. I also wanted to make an infographic about the presence of diverse protagonists in the history of YA literature, but I couldn’t find the numbers for that, so I had to come up with new ideas that would still fit with my story. It was challenging to come up with a new idea when I was so set on the old one. I like that I settled on highlighting the good aspects of the history of YA literature, to show how is has paved the way for literature today.
Next time, with a project like this, I would make more of an effort to put my own spin on my infographics, instead of relying on programs like Canva and Visme, because I think that would make them look better overall and less generic.
Kendra Ruether 